The Newsletter of ANZUP Cancer Trials Group Limited
SUMMER 2018
Christmas Message from CEO It only seems like yesterday I was writing my 2017 report with great anticipation as to what our 10th year might bring. Well here we are 12 months later and what a cracker of a year it has been. 8 active trials; 3 protocols in development; 27 concepts presented across the 4 Concept Development Workshops and 8 Below the Belt Research Grants awarded, to name a few.
held in Brisbane 21-23 July, ably led by our 2019 convener A/Prof David Pryor. This year marked the 5th year of the Below the Belt Pedalthon in Sydney and the very successful launch of the Pedalthon in Melbourne, raising almost $300,000 collectively and directed to the Below the Belt Research Fund. With 10 pilot projects already underway, we’ve been able to fund another 8 studies this year that showcase the depth and dedication of our members to meaningful research.
Early this year we launched the TheraP trial. This study was a culmination of countless hours and extraordinary commitment of many people ably led by Michael Hofman with great support from Louise Emmett, Ian Davis, the TheraP team at CTC and our multiple funding partners. We are extremely grateful to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) along with our collaborators; Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Endocyte, Movember Foundation and The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, without their support we could not have opened this study at 11 sites across Australia.
The level of support we receive not only from our membership and within the medical research community but also from the broader business community, organisations large and small and individuals whose lives have been touched by GU cancer is nothing short of phenomenal.
After several years of blood, sweat and tears we were delighted to announce the TIGER trial finally opened in Australia. Our thanks to Peter Grimison, all the investigators, trial coordinators and the TIGER team at CTC for your tireless efforts to ensure patients have access to this important trial. We are extremely grateful to the Movember Foundation for not only their patience but also their funding support so we could join this international study.
As with all things in life there are highs and there are lows and sadly we farewelled some great friends of ANZUP, Alastair McKendrick, ANZUP CAP member, Daniel Christidis, a rising star in urology and our Melbourne Pedalthon Ambassador, Jonathan Cantwell – all of whom have left us too soon but leave a legacy that will keep us focussed. See their tributes later in this edition.
With each month comes a new milestone for our trials currently in recruitment. TheraP, UNISoN, KEYPAD and Pain Free TRUS B are all recording strong recruitment with PCR MIB reaching 25% of its target as I type. Many thanks again to the PI’s, trial staff and all involved in order to make these important studies accessible to the patients. With ENZAMET, ENZARAD in follow up and RAMPART, UNICAB and DASLHiCAP in development, it’s heartening to see the life cycle of clinical trials continue to turn. Our 2018 ASM was hugely successful with many innovations on display not only in content but delivery. The ANZUPx presentations and Crossfire debates igniting a lot of thought and discussion among the 390 strong delegation, our biggest to date! We hope to see you at the 2019 ASM which will be
We thank every supporter, participant and donor for helping us travel this far with the Pedalthon and hope to see you next year as we plan to travel further still. Be sure to check out the new website www.belowthebelt.org.au and register now for next year.
I am very fortunate to have the privilege of working in an organisation that is made up of so many dedicated and committed people working towards one goal, to make a difference to the lives of people affected by GU cancers. I would like to acknowledge and thank the ANZUP Board, the SAC and subcommittee chairs, deputy chairs and members; our brilliant CAP, our wonderful volunteers Lesley Tinkler, Jo Stubbs and Maureen Wheeler, who brighten our day (that is when they aren’t on holidays!); our colleagues at NHMRC CTC and BaCT; our corporate supporters, sponsors and donors; and the many patients who participate in clinical trials. I wish you and your families all the very best for the holiday season, a chance to rest and regroup before another big year ahead. MARGARET MCJANNETT CEO, ANZUP
HELLO, WELCOME TO ‘UPDATE’ Contents: CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR . . . . . . 2 ANZUP 2018 – YEAR IN NUMBERS . 4 2018 WORLD CANCER CONGRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 10TH UROLOGY SYMPOSIUM – HONG KONG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 CLINICAL TRIAL UPDATES AND MILESTONES ACHIEVED . . . . . 8 SYDNEY PEDALTHON . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 BTB RESEARCH FUND IN ACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 UPDATES FROM SAC & SUBCOMMITTEES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 TONIC MEDIA POST CAMPAIGN REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 IN MEMORIUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 NEWS IN BRIEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CORPORATE SUPPORTERS . . . . . . . 22 UPCOMING EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR Welcome to this edition of UPdate, the newsletter of the Australian & New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group Ltd (ANZUP)! It’s November as I write this and the shops are full of Christmas items. You can’t escape it, it’s everywhere, and it all causes me to have mixed feelings. On the one hand it’s a time of anticipation: happy times with friends and family; giving and receiving of gifts; maybe some time off work (unless you’re on ward service or writing grants…), thinking about the personal and universal implications of love and sacrifice and salvation. On the other hand, it’s a time of trepidation: more and more meetings crammed into shorter and shorter time; evening events; when do I do the present shopping or write the newsletter; time off just means more overload when you get back; weight watching is replaced by watching the weight grow; I haven’t even recovered from last Christmas yet; cynicism and bah humbug maybe? But on the gripping hand (extra points if you recognise the literary reference there without googling it), there is always ANZUP. ANZUP sometimes seems like the best parts of Christmas, but all year round. It adds enjoyment to the everyday grind. It gives new opportunities to “play in the sandbox” and to make a difference in what we do. It brings us together when we might not otherwise be able to make the time or have the opportunity. There is a present for everybody, whether you are one of the people participating in an ANZUP trial, or an investigator, or other researcher, or community representative, or beneficiary of one of our many avenues of financial or other support, or one of our many stakeholders, or part of the ANZUP staff team, or someone who has benefited from one of our educational initiatives. These never stop, so there is no ramping up or winding down. And it just keeps giving: even when you are busy or disillusioned, a word of support or the knowledge that so many great people are there with you and supporting you can be enough to keep you going.
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
And that in turn helps all of us to keep giving of ourselves, which is why we do what we do, and what Christmas should be all about. 2018 has been the year that we celebrated our tenth year of existence, and it’s been a wild ride. We have continued to exceed our hopes and expectations in terms of our core trial activity, for both numbers of studies and patients enrolled. The clinical questions we ask through our trials remain relevant and the results are keenly awaited, with the eyes of the world upon us. We continue to grow in our membership, showing that we remain relevant and useful to our members, although we must never become complacent about that and we will always strive to continue to recognise and meet your needs. As always you will read in this newsletter all about the various activities that have happened over the course of the year and especially since the last newsletter. Some of these are regular occurrences, although they continue to grow and become more valuable: our ASM, Best of GU symposium, preceptorships, committee meetings. Some are new opportunities: new linkages or grant funding opportunities that have led to a wealth of new research ideas, many of which are now well advanced towards development of new trials. Previous concepts have now matured into approved trials and are about to start or have already started recruiting patients. And we are thinking ahead into next year, planning the various meetings, workshops, Pedalthons and other fundraising events, and everything else that we somehow manage to cram into the year. Individuals might have holidays, including our CEO Marg who will take some well-earned time off in December, but ANZUP never sleeps and never winds down. We have all of you to thank for that. The nature of what we do, and sometimes other events, means that we lose some of our own from time to time. I would like to pay special tribute to two people we have lost recently, both of whom contributed to ANZUP in very important but different ways. Alastair McKendrick was a member of our Consumer Advisory Panel for several years, contributing from his own personal experience with renal cell carcinoma but also his own wisdom and expertise in so many other ways. Alastair’s health was declining in recent months but he still made time to attend various meetings and to contribute strongly, as
he always did. Alastair’s instructions to the CAP that he passed on through me the day before he died were simple, clear, and characteristically Alastair: “Tell them to work harder.” We will, and we will remember Alastair as we do, as an example of why we do it. We are also grieving over the sudden death of Daniel Christidis, a young urologist and researcher whose career was soaring. We will remember Daniel for his wit and ready smile as much as for his skills as a clinician and scientist. Daniel won an ANZUP/Bayer Travel Fellowship for the 2017 ASM and also won a Best of the Best Trainee/Fellow award at the meeting. He will be very sadly missed, and it is great to see his legacy remembered with the inauguration of the Daniel Christidis Scholarship through USANZ (https://www.usanz.org.au/christidis-scholarship/) 2019 will bring more challenges, of course. How do we continue to ensure our value and relevance to our members and stakeholders? How will we expand our capacity and capability so that we can do the work we want and need to do? How do we ensure and grow an active pipeline of ideas, and another pipeline of enthusiastic, effective and engaged clinicians and researchers? How can we possibly top what we achieved in 2018? How do we best steward our resources to make sure we remain viable while also ploughing resources back in to the group to allow it to grow and thrive? Yet we manage to do all this each year. I am immensely grateful to all of the ANZUP team, the ANZUP Board, the Scientific Advisory Committee and its subcommittees, the Consumer Advisory Panel, our volunteers, our faithful fundraisers, and everyone else who contributes in so many ways. So, back to Christmas, or perhaps it is another festive season for you. My wish for you all is that you are refreshed and reinvigorated, and that you discover or rediscover the real meaning of what this season is about. You all give so much to ANZUP and to the people we serve, and I am enormously grateful to you all. It keeps me going when times are hard. It’s why we are here. And, perhaps, the satisfaction we get from doing this well might be the best present of all. Please enjoy this edition of UPdate. IAN DAVIS Chair
ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018 | 3
ANZUP 2018 – YEAR IN NUMBERS MEMBERSHIP
>60%
1,460 members
2015
2016
2017
since 2015
2018
TRIALS
7 2016
10
14
2017
2018
ASM
NEW TRIAL PARTICIPANTS IN 2018
DELEGATES
727
297
335
390
2016
2017
2018
PRECEPTORSHIP ATTENDEES
WORKSHOPS
35
36
42
CDW CONCEPTS
2016
2017
2017
2018
4
4
4
29
22
27
85
98
106
2018 ATTENDEES
4 | ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018
2016
ANZUP 2018 – YEAR IN NUMBERS ANZUP CLINTRIAL APP SCREEN VIEWS
71
CORPORATE SUPPORTERS
IN-KIND SUPPORTERS
5
4
2018
1,446 1,604
2016
2017
WEB PAGE VIEWS
2018
2018
2016
119,020
2017
140,912
2018
324,294
TWITTER FOLLOWERS
1891 2018
ANZUP
1560
2018
$303K FUNDS
243
4,176 LAPS
FUNDS
315
5,400 LAPS
2017
RIDERS
3.86M
2016
4,414 LAPS
RIDERS
2017
1268
248
2016
2.65M
$255K
2017
1.22M 2016
ASM TWITTER IMPRESSIONS
FELLOWSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS (INC TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP, STUDY-CO-ORD, YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AND BEST OF THE BEST)
2018*
RIDERS
$297K
FUNDS
* INCLUDING MELBOURNE
40
2016
47
2017
33
2018
BELOW THE BELT RESEARCH FUND GRANTS
3
7
8
2016
2017
2018
ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018 | 5
2018 WORLD CANCER CONGRESS The 2018 World Cancer Congress was hosted by the National Cancer Society of Malaysia from 1 to 4 October in Kuala Lumpur. This congress is an initiative of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and hosts approximately 2,500 delegates from 100 countries. Even though there were so many delegates, it felt particularly familiar because the Immediate Past President of the UICC is Australia’s Professor Sanchia Aranda, CEO of Cancer Council Australia. This year’s theme was “Strengthen, Inspire, Deliver” and it certainly managed to do just that. I spent most of my time in the Patient Group Pavilion, not because this was the only place I was permitted to attend, but because the presentations were so informative and useful. The Patient Group Pavilion is set aside specifically to provide a forum for patients, and consumer advocates. It’s a very vibrant and inspiring place to be, offering a vast diversity in the topics presented ranging from patient stories to health professionals and cancer organisations sharing their knowledge and successes concerning people affected by cancer. This not only included well established organisations with numerous resources and initiatives to talk about but it was also particularly interesting to hear from countries less fortunate than we in Australia and New Zealand, creating an environment of shared learning and collaboration.
I submitted two abstracts which were subsequently accepted for presentation and I was invited to Chair the Navigating Cancer Care session. The topics I presented were “Consumers Having an IMPACT on Cancer Research” and “Mere Survival or Meaningful Survivorship.” The presentation about consumers and research was a play on words referring to my experience with Breast Cancer Trials’ (BCT) Consumer Advisory Panel and its IMPACT Program. I used this opportunity to talk about ANZUP’s Consumer Advisory Panel and the work we do in collaborating with ANZUP researchers as well as the work and legacy of BCT’s Consumer Advisory Panel. In the time allocated I tried to highlight our important role and how these collaborations impact on research outcomes. It was very well received and people were interested to hear about ANZUP’s research agenda. My presentation relating to survivorship focused on strategies to manage once the words ‘You have cancer’ are uttered. This is one of my pet topics because it can impact people’s lives so dramatically if not managed well. One of the most rewarding aspects of attending any cancer conference is the opportunity to network and learn what others do and how they manage many of the similar issues we all face in our advocacy efforts. LEONIE YOUNG
ANZUP SURVEILLANCE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR METASTATIC TESTICULAR CANCER POST-CHEMOTHERAPY 6 | ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018
The ANZUP surveillance recommendations for metastatic testicular cancer post-chemotherapy are now available on the ANZUP website at https://anzup.org.au/docview.aspx?id=880. These recommendations have been developed by ANZUP’s Germ Cell Subcommittee, in accordance with International Germ Cell Consensus Classification, and are provided for use within Australia and New Zealand. Download the recommendations now from www.anzup.org.au
10TH UROLOGY SYMPOSIUM – HONG KONG In February this year I was invited by ANZUP Cancer Trials Group as the Australian and New Zealand Urological Nurses representative to attend the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus (APCCC) Satellite Symposium in Melbourne. The APCCC symposium brought together 20 experts from 15 APAC countries to discuss the real-world application of consensus statements from the 2nd Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference held in St Gallen in 2017. It was a wonderful opportunity to attend and contribute in a dynamic environment that highlighted the advantages and challenges in caring for advanced prostate cancer patients in the APAC region. The meeting also highlighted the critical importance of a multidisciplinary team-based approach to treatment and delivery of best-practice care. Being a participant at this meeting also provided me with an opportunity to establish a network to collaborate with nurses from APAC region. As a consequence I was invited to present at the 10th Urology Nurses Symposium in Hong Kong. I represented the Australian and New Zealand Urology Nurses. The conference was well attended with over 100 nurses attending from various hospitals throughout Malaysia, China and the territories of Hong Kong. I was asked to present on the topic of Care of Uro-Oncological patients in Australia. The second topic included “Managing sexual problems of patients with prostate cancer”. This presentation highlighted the treatments and side effects of prostate treatment on men’s sexual functioning and the interventions available. The rest of the morning program covered various topics including service model and structure of urological nursing in Malaysia, the introduction of trans perineal implants which is a new technique in Hong Kong. There was also a presentation of the current role of artificial urinary sphincter in male urinary incontinence. The final talk was on the value of Chinese Medicinal nursing care in the urology patient. This was extremely interesting as it really highlighted the cultural difference of the patients. The presenter is doing her Masters in this topic, she was very animated despite the lecture being given in Cantonese their slides are in English so it was easy to follow and very amusing. The afternoon session included talks on the sperm banking service in Hong Kong and how to use video for patients’ education. Crystal SY Li gave the final presentation, a Urology Nurse Consultant, she spoke about a patient
support group for men with Prostate Cancer in Hong Kong. No matter where you travel in the world patients have similar needs and it was great to see this example. The meeting was a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with our nursing colleagues. I also attended a sight visit to Prince of Wales Hospital. This hospital is a regional acute government hospital located in Sha Tin, New Territories in Hong Kong. It has 870 inpatients beds and is a large teaching hospital affiliated with the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The urology department is extremely busy and the Nurse in Charge is Crystal Li. She is a Nurse Consultant who manages 3 other regional urology departments. She is extremely motivated and always looking to improve patient care. Her role varies between management and clinical. She manages several nurses in the outpatient department. The outpatient department had a nurse led urodynamic clinic and there were information group sessions for patients managing ISC. Patients have access to information using their phones to scan the icon that directs them to a you-tube video for further explanation of procedures. The symposium and sight visit provided me a wonderful opportunity to meet like-minded colleagues and to share our experiences. We look forward to continuing this collaboration in the future. I would like to thank ANZUP for the opportunity in assisting ANZUNS to be invited to these various meetings. It has provided ANZUNS with a great collegial relationship with ANZUP to promote GU nursing both nationally and internationally. KATH SCHUBACH ANZUNS Vice President Australia ANZUP- SAC Member
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CLINICAL TRIAL UPDATES AND MILESTONES ACHIEVED BCG MM
UNISoN
• Study sites: 13 sites open to recruitment
• S tudy Sites: 19 sites open, 4th patient from Calvary Mater Newcastle has been enrolled into the UNISoN study.
• Recruitment: 188 patients randomised
BL12 • Study sites: 23 sites now closed to recruitment • Recruitment: ceased on 7 April 2017
KEYPAD • S tudy sites: 13 sites open to recruitment in Australia with 1 more expected in 2019 • Recruitment: 15 patients randomised
Pain-free TRUS B • Study sites: 7 sites open and recruiting
• R ecruitment: 62 patients randomised in Part 1 & 19 patients randomised in Part 2
ANZUP Co-badged Studies ProPSMA – closed to recruitment • Recruitment: 302 patients randomised • Study sites: 10
• Recruitment: 328 patients randomised
e-TC (v2) – closed to recruitment
P3BEP
• R ecruitment: 41 patients in total. Recruited 16 participants in 2018
• S tudy sites: 26 sites open and recruiting (ANZ) + 21 sites internationally
FASTRACK II (TROG 15.03)
• Recruitment: 71 patients randomised
• Recruitment: 40 patients randomised
PCR MIB • S tudy sites: 5 sites open to recruitment in Australia. Liverpool Hospital to open shortly
• Study sites: 8 sites open and recruiting
NMIBC-SI Evaluation
• Recruitment: 9 patients randomised
• R ecruitment: Patients enrolled field test 1: 220 (closed - completed) Patients enrolled feld test 2: 29
TheraP
• Study sites: 14 sites open
• Study sites: 11 sites open to recruitment in Australia • Recruitment: 100 patients randomised
TIGER • S tudy sites: 4 sites open - Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre recently activated on 31 October 2018 • R ecruitment: 2 patients randomised
Trials in follow-up phase ENZAMET • Accrual of 1,125 patients from 83 sites • Recruitment closed 25 March 2017 • 1,125 participants from 83 global sites
ENZARAD FOLLOW US ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST #UPDATE AND @ANZUPTRIALS NEWS
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• Accrual of 802 patients from 69 sites • Recruitment closed 30 June 2018
SYDNEY PEDALTHON
Sydney Pedalthon races across the finish line! Another fantastic day was had by all with around 200 riders taking to the track at Eastern Creek, riding a combined 12,812 kilometres and raising more than $217,000 so far to support your research endeavours via ANZUP’s Below the Belt Research Fund. The energy, enthusiasm and generosity shown by our “Pedalthoners”, our sponsors and their supporters ensured our 5th year of racing was one of the biggest and best years yet. 33 teams in all competed in what was a hard-fought competition on the day with Norton Rose Fulbright 1 taking out the overall winner’s title with a combined team total of 156 laps, with honours for Lion – James Squires, NSW Ambulance, GenesisCare and Origin Energy in their respective industry categories. Our very own ANZUP Dream Team rose to the occasion, as the 3rd highest fundraisers. Special mention goes out to Dream Team member Louise Emmett who was our highest individual fundraiser on the day, contributing to the outstanding fundraising result with fellow team members Alison Zhang, Blossom Mak, Kate Mahon and Lisa Horvath.
Honourable mentions go out to our other home-grown team, ANZUP Allstars and to Spin Doctors (Novartis) for taking out the coveted “Best Dressed” title. We are very grateful to this year’s Gold Sponsors, Morton Real Estate and GenesisCare and Silver Sponsors Pfizer Oncology and Thirdi Group, lunch sponsor, Bayer, event support from Entoure and last but not least, our Sydney Pedalthon Ambassador and Commonwealth Games champion, Kaarle McCulloch. Join us again next year for another great day on wheels in Melbourne, 17th March 2019 at Sandown Raceway and Sydney on 10th September at Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek and stay tuned for more Pedalthon related news in 2019!
The new Pedalthon website has launched! Visit www.belowthebelt.org.au now to stay up to date with all the latest Pedalthon news. Features include a real time funds tracker and leader board, “Find a Team” – matching single riders to teams in need of some extra pedal-pushers and so much more. Visit now: www.belowthebelt.org.au
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BTB RESEARCH FUND IN ACTION
EnzAdapt: feasibility, acceptability and safety of adaptive dosing of enzalutamide in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer By Craig Gedye STUDY AIM: To test the acceptability, safety and feasibility of adaptive dosing enzalutamide in men with CRPC. PROGRESS TO DATE: EnzAdapt is still in its early stages. The protocol is currently being developed, the PICF is being drafted for review and consent support materials, including AV materials, are being created.
Delivering personalised and evidence-based exercise support to men with metastatic prostate cancer via the Internet – a pilot RCT examining intervention impact on behaviour change and quality of life By Camille Short STUDY AIM: Develop an online exercise support service for men with metastatic prostate cancer and evaluate the impact of the service on men’s exercise levels and overall quality of life. STUDY AMENDMENT: We have included a face-toface usability and safety test in our protocol to ensure that the website is of the highest quality and standard before commencing our pilot RCT. The usability and
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safety test involves coming into the research lab, using the website and performing the exercises recommended by the program under supervision of an accredited exercise physiologist (Holly Evans). The process is filmed and reviewed by an expert panel to highlight any safety concerns prior to commencing the RCT. This phase is funded by a project grant from the University of Adelaide awarded to Dr Camille Short. PROGRESS TO DATE: Most of the website content has been produced. There are nine core components, all of which are tailored to the individual user. The components include information on exercise benefits, how to exercise safely, and how to form a lasting exercise habit, as well as a tailored exercise program and a place to track progress overtime. Users click on the component, complete a short survey and then are presented with information via text and video based on their responses. Ray and Colin from the Consumer Advisory Panel have been reviewing the content for us for the last month or so. A very big thank you to them! The next step is for us to commence usability and safety testing. We are on track to have this completed by the end of this year, and the RCT commenced early 2019.
QualTheraP: A nested, multi-perspective longitudinal qualitative study of participants in the TheraP trial By Nicholas Ralph
Application of a multi-gene prostate circulating tumour DNA panel in men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer By Heidi Fettke and Edmond Kwan STUDY AIM: To optimise a highly sensitive, rapid and comprehensive circulating tumour DNA genomic sequencing assay targeting relevant genes in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer patients. STUDY AMENDMENT: We observed lower concentrations (compared to castration-resistant prostate cancer patients) of circulating cell-free DNA from blood samples taken from the first five patients on the study. This is consistent with the knowledge that disease burden is often lower in the hormone-sensitive cohort. We have subsequently amended our protocol to increase our initial collection of blood from 2 x 10ml EDTA tubes, to 3 x 10ml EDTA tubes. This will ensure we have sufficient circulating tumour DNA for sensitive detection of rare genomic variants in the blood. PROGRESS TO DATE: Ethics approval and governance for the project has been obtained from Monash Health. To date, a total of ten patients (target 25) have been recruited to the study, with a mix of patients receiving ADT alone and ADT plus docetaxel chemotherapy. Work has begun on extracting the circulating cell-free DNA from the blood samples, and performing quality control assessments. We are also in discussions with other Australian hospitals and research centres about potentially contributing samples to the project, which would drive recruitment. Furthermore, we are currently in the process of optimising our bioinformatic pipelines in the castrate-resistant disease cohort, which will inform our future strategies once samples from this hormone-sensitive cohort undergo genomic sequencing. By the start of 2019, we aim to hit our target of 50% recruitment and begin sequencing of patient samples.
STUDY AIM: The aim of this study is to qualitatively explore the experiences of men with advanced prostate cancer and their partners throughout their involvement in a cancer trial. Accordingly, we propose a multiperspective qualitative longitudinal study nested within the TheraP trial; a trial which compares a new type of advanced prostate cancer treatment, Lutetium-177 PSMA radionuclide therapy (LuPSMA), with a type of chemotherapy called cabazitaxel, which is the standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer when other treatments have stopped working. We will interview 10 trial participants in each arm at three time points throughout the trial. We will report motivations for trial participation among men with advanced cancer, common themes of their trial participant experience, and identify needs unique to men within a medical trial. PROGRESS TO DATE: We are currently awaiting ethical approval with study commencement planned for early 2019.
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UPDATES FROM SAC & SUBCOMMITTEES Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) The final ANZUP Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) for the year was 5 December 2018. We have been thinking over the course of this year about how the SAC can best take advantage of its many strengths in order to help ANZUP achieve its goal of improving outcomes for people affected by genitourinary cancers. It is important that ANZUP has a multidisciplinary body like the SAC as the highest level of scientific oversight of our work, so regular updates of our activity are standing agenda items for the SAC. We have recognised though that is it even more critical to set aside time for strategic thinking, so that ANZUP and its work can continue to remain fresh and relevant, while addressing the broad range of issues that fall in our remit. We have reviewed some of our internal processes to try to make them more efficient and transparent, which in turn should lead to visible improvements for researchers developing concepts and conducting clinical trials through ANZUP. This activity will continue with another meeting early in 2019 specifically aimed at these questions. The SAC will also continue to consider other priorities as identified at our workshop in July 2018: • A stronger focus for the SAC and the Consumer Advisory Panel to identify needs to be addressed through ANZUP research • Clearer articulation of ANZUP’s scope and role to prioritise our activities and efforts • Consideration of more targeted approaches in concept development, aligning with strategic priorities
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• Stronger emphasis on support of early career researchers • Creation of stronger profile and awareness in the community and amongst clinicians and researchers of the value of ANZUP research Multiple actions from that planning day were defined and have already been completed. Thanks as always to those of you who contribute to ANZUP’s work through our various subcommittees or through workshops or other meetings. This is where the fun stuff happens, as we consider areas of clinical need and new opportunities. Any ANZUP member is welcome and able to participate, at whatever level of involvement you wish. Please contact us if you want to be added to mailing lists, subcommittee membership, or if you have other ideas about how you might be able to contribute IAN DAVIS Chair, ANZUP Scientific Advisory Committee
Update your member details now! Need to update your contact details or subscription preferences? Update your member details now at www.anzup.org.au/member/updateprofile.aspx to stay up to date on all the latest ANZUP news and events.
Bladder Cancer There has been a lot of activity within the Bladder cancer subcommittee over the last two quarters.
Coming Up
Recent News
• C irculating immune cell changes in patients treated with Pembrolizumab and chemoradiation for bladder cancer (Andrew Weickhardt) - accruing
1. The BCG-MM trial (BCG compared to sequential BCG & Mitomycin for high-risk NMIBC) has continued to steadily accrue patients - currently at 181 of a planned 500 patients. As the 130 patients within Stage-1 of the trial reach 12 months of followup, initial data analysis will follow, yielding much anticipated preliminary results. Additional centres, and continued accrual by existing sites will be crucial to the successful completion of this study. 2. The PCR-MIB (Pembroluzimab with chemoradiation for MIBC) has now accrued 7 of planned 30 patients. Clinicians are encouraged to consider this trial for patients eligible for and interested in bladder preserving therapy for muscle-invasive disease. 3. The co-badged NMIBC-symptom Index development has moved into field test 2, with a number of sites now activated and recruiting patients. The identification and invitation of eligible patients prior to undergoing TURBT will be key to the success of this study. 4. The ACCEPT cystectomy database is open at West Australian sites, and in the process of opening at multiple sites in other states. This will hopefully provide a platform not only for valuable data collection, but also multicentre interventional trials to be planned.
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A number of promising proposals have received seed funding from the Below the Belt Fund over the last three years:
• Exercise Medicine Prior to Open Radical Cystectomy: Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy (Dennis Taafe) – nearing completion • F easibility of Water Irrigation post TURBT for NMIBC (Shomik Sengupta) – in development We await with interest the outcomes from these studies and hope they will lead onto multi-centre ANZUP trials in due course. Multiple concepts presented at the 2018 CDW and subcommittee teleconferences are at various stages of development. The most advanced include: • C OMBAT: Comprehensive Molecular and Immune Profiling of Urothelial Bladder Cancer Patients (Ben Tran) - accruing • A review of the epidemiology, management, survival and quality of life outcomes of patients diagnosed and treated for penile cancer in Western Australia (Simeon Ngweso) - accruing Upcoming Concept Development Workshop is scheduled for 11 April 2019 in Sydney with more details to follow. Members are encouraged to put forward concepts for studies not only into bladder cancer but also upper tract urothelial and penile cancers. SHOMIK SENGUPTA Deputy Chair, Bladder Subcommittee
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Quality of Life & Supportive Care
Renal Cell
Recent news With the end of the year already upon us it is great to be in a position to update the progress on BTB funded projects falling under the remit of our committee. There are eight separate projects some across multiple tumour groups and others specific to one tumour type, reflecting the diverse needs of people living with GU cancer. As the detail is covered elsewhere in the newsletter in brief: • The Exercise Guide Intervention has been developed and refined with input from consumers, with the RCT scheduled to start early in 2019 – great work from Cam Short and team. • The e-TC 2.0 website has reached its recruitment target of 40 men – great work to Ben Smith and team. • The Adherence project review is close to being finalised and will be submitted for publication in March 2019. • The TheraP-Qual study is under ethics review and should be ready to commence in early 2019, lovely to see this getting underway under Nicholas Ralph’s leadership. • CTCAE-PRO in bladder cancer is in protocol development and will be submitted for HREC approval in Jan 2019. • Prostate Cancer QPL study HREC application has been submitted and resources are being developed. • For the Active Surveillance Study a survey is in development that will help to establish a biopsychosocial model of why men leave active surveillance.
Coming Up So much activity is great to see, but it is clear we need to focus our energy on where we can make the greatest contribution to ANZUP and most importantly to the patients impacted by GU cancers. We will be calling for members of the subcommittee to nominate their involvement in a specific tumour subcommittee to ensure QoL and Supportive Care involvement in all the concept workshops – so look out for that in your inboxes soon.
Recent news 1. T he UNISoN study is still recruiting rapidly with half the patients now enrolled well ahead of schedule. Patients are now progressing through to the second part of the study where combination immune therapy is added to those progressing on single immunotherapy drug. 2. T he KEYPAD study continues to recruit patients with clear cell kidney cancer who have progressed on first-line treatment. Further studies have recently reported, showing the benefit of combining immune therapy with other agents to improve response to treatment. 3. T he UNICAB study has been approved by Ipsen and will likely open this year. This is the second ANZUP study for patients with non clear-cell variants of kidney cancer and will recruit patients who have progressed on immune therapy, or who are not candidates for immune therapy, for a trial assessing the effectiveness of cabozantinib. This will provide a good option for patients who complete the UNISoN trial.
Coming Up 1. W e are continuing to explore new combinations of treatments for patients with non clear-cell variants of kidney cancer and hope to have a trial open next year to replace UNISoN when it completes enrolment.
We will be running a quality of life and supportive care concept development workshop in February 2019 to focus our research direction, building on both the BTB funded projects and ANZUP’s growing body of existing clinical trials. I am very much looking forward to working with you all in 2019.
2. T he RAMPART study which investigates the role of immune therapy in preventing cancer recurrence following surgery has recruited its first patient in the UK so we are looking forward to Australian sites opening.
HARYANA DHILLON Chair, QoL and Supportive Care Subcommittee
DAVID POOK Deputy Chair, RCC Committee
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Prostate Cancer
Translational Research Recent News
Recent news 1. T heraP has now recruited 100 patients in <12 months, reaching 50% of its recruitment target. (Total recruitment will be 200). 2. P ain-free TRUS B study has recruited 328 from a planned accrual of 420. 3. P roPSMA (co-badged study) has completed recruitment with 302 patients. 4. D r Kate Mahon awarded Mundipharma fellowship for development of novel biomarker trial with mGSTP1.
Coming up 1. M ovember/Cancer Australia have announced request for applications for three $4 million Prostate Cancer Research Alliances. 2. A NZUP Prostate Concept development workshop will be in early 2019. Start working on your concepts now. 3. T he ENZAMET study is approaching first analysis. There is a significant biobank associated with the study and we are keen to hear your concepts for ENZAMET biological substudies for upcoming grant applications in 2019. LISA HORVATH Deputy Chair, Prostate Cancer Subcommittee
1. I n collaboration with Chris Sweeney and his team at Harvard/Dana-Faber as well as other investigators, translational grant proposals centred on ENZAMET and ENZARAD were submitted in early 2018. Although we have not yet had good news, we are still working on securing funding for these important studies. 2. T ranslational research proposals were a key feature of the Below the Belt awards for 2018. Congratulations to Edmond Kwan and Heidi Fettke for their successful proposal centred on circulating tumour DNA analysis in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. 3. T he Translational Sub-Committee was well represented at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Concept Development Workshops. There were lots of excellent concepts discussed and importantly this gave us a chance to incorporate translational endpoints into the concepts. 4. T ranslational biomarkers were built into a MRFF application with Dr Louise Emmett and Dr Anthony Joshua.
Coming up 1. B io-specimen collection continues for recruiting ANZUPled trials including but not limited to ENZARAD, P3BEP, BCGMM, PCR-MIB, TheraP, KEYPAD and UNISoN. 2. W e are planning grant submissions for 2019 centred on bio-specimens collected from ENZAMET or ENZARAD. Lisa Horvath and Arun Azad are leading this initiative working closely with the Translational Research Steering Committee for these two major trials. 3. W e are actively planning the Translational Research Symposium for the ANZUP ASM 2019. We hope to bring you confirmation shortly of the international speakers for this Symposium. They will be joined by some of our leading national translational researchers in urological cancers. ANTHONY JOSHUA Deputy Chair, Translational Research Subcommittee
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST #UPDATE AND @ANZUPTRIALS NEWS
ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018 | 15
Germ Cell Recent news 1. P 3BEP is recruiting steadily with a focus on US adult sites in coming months. The end of October was particularly strong globally in terms of recruitment with six patients being recruited in one week over that period. 2. A NZUP was congratulated at the G3 meeting at ESMO for opening TIGER. This trial has now opened at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Chris Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien Lifehouse and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Further referrals from members are encouraged if at all possible in order to support recruitment to this very important study. Given the population of patients being studied involves small numbers of patients at any one centre it is really important that the trial is supported through collaboration regarding recruitment between sites, particularly throughout Victoria. 3. F unding was obtained from Movember for 60 patients to be recruited to the TIGER study over 5 years. 4. i Testis National GCT and Translational Questions Database has been launched, and two projects have been commenced as part of the database. The first is implementing stage 1 guidelines and the second will look retrospectively at the last few years of surveillance in the post chemotherapy setting. This is the first national germ cell tumour database. Please contact Ben Tran if you are interested in contributing patient data into iTestis. 5. T he ANZUP preceptorship in Bladder Kidney and Testicular cancers was held 30 November to 1 December in Melbourne with a full update in the next edition.
Coming up 1. G AP 7 is a new Movember initiative that aims to educate and reduce anxiety in newly diagnosed patients with testis cancer. The platform includes a video and allows patients to connect to each other
16 | ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018
and to experts with the goal of reducing anxiety. A study is being conducted through the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute and the Princess Margaret Hospital looking at changes in distress levels with the implementation of the platform. We look forward to discussions regarding early results from this in upcoming meetings. 2. S urvivorship issues and Guideline Development regarding these are an upcoming focus area for the germ cell trials group. Recent data from the Copenhagen registry suggested that the risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome may not be as high as had been previously reported. 3. T he planned ANZUP workshop with the goal of developing an innovative and potentially practicechanging protocol to improve long term outcomes in testicular cancer survivors suffering from hypogonadism has been postponed. A date will be proposed for early in 2019. This may give interested clinicians in the fields of urology, medical oncology or endocrinology a further chance to attend with the change of date. Look out for the upcoming save the date.
Concept Development Workshop Membership of the Germ Cell Trials Group is growing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which is exciting. We would welcome your encouragement of specialist nurses, trainees, and scientists at your institution to consider joining the group also. We encourage attendance at the 2019 Concept Development Workshop for scientists and clinicians with an interest in germ cell cancer. These workshops are always dynamic with great support for any new proposals. No idea is too early to be considered as the hothousing environment often helps develop and extend an idea very quickly. Please contact Ben Tran if you would like to participate or have a concept for consideration. BEN TRAN Chair, Germ Cell Subcommittee
Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP) As we approach the final weeks of 2018 we can look back over the year with a degree of satisfaction and pride in achievement. The CAP comprises individuals from very diverse backgrounds and brings together a wide range of skill sets. Each member of the CAP has been impacted by cancer, either directly or through a loved one, and we share a common bond and understanding of what it is like to be ‘on the receiving end’ of treatment for the disease. When the CAP comes together to discuss a trial protocol, or how to best promote acceptance of clinical trials, the perspective offered by of our diverse skill sets comes to the fore. Discussion can be robust but always with the common objective of assisting our ANZUP colleagues in advancing disease understanding and treatment. Importantly, we also learn from the broader membership which in turn helps us to do our job better. The various concept development workshops conducted by the disease subgroups are a great learning experience for CAP members. The CAP is often called on to respond in very short time frames. Deadlines for funding approvals, ethics submissions, grants, all the above. That’s the way it happens, we just call a meeting and it gets done. And we enjoy it.
The CAP recently reviewed the protocol and the Patient Information and Consent Forms for the UNICAB Trial (ANZUP 1802): This was a phase II trial of Single Agent Cabozantib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic Non-Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma. This was a complex review with a very tight turnaround time. We also completed a review of an amendment to the TheraP protocol (ANZUP 1603) in very quick time to meet the scheduled timing of the Ethics submission. There are also the roles where we play a part in the development of a project as it evolves. A current example of this has been Camille Short’s and Holly Evan’s work in Adelaide to establish an exercise guide for men with metastatic prostate cancer. The CAP is of course a major player at the ASM, participating in the main sessions and presenting at the Community Engagement Forum. One of our members appeared in a video promoting clinical trials in hundreds of GP’s waiting rooms, the results of which are detailed on the next page. We even provided a very entertaining commentator/judge/referee for the Bike Challenge at the ASM dinner. As we head into 2019, the CAP stands ready and enthusiastic to assist the membership in any way. We know that there is an exciting pipeline under development and we are ready. Impossible deadlines? Our speciality. RAY ALLEN
Free ClinTrial Refer ANZUP App The ClinTrial Refer ANZUP app provides a current list of clinical research trials conducted in cancer centres in Australia and New Zealand. Designed for oncologists, general practitioners, research unit staff and patients, ClinTrial Refer ANZUP has searchable clinical research trial details, hospital locations and contacts, and inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Available for download from
Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/clintrial-refer-anzup/id894317413?mt=8 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lps.anzup&hl=en
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TONIC MEDIA POST CAMPAIGN REPORT ANZUP partnered with Breast Cancer Trials (BCT) to help educate the public and tackle the misconceptions about clinical trials by rolling out a media campaign through Tonic Health Media in July – August 2018. The results of the “Is there a trial for me” campaign are in:
“IS THERE A TRIAL FOR ME” AD
1,870,899
1,728
12,547,297
PLAYS
SITES
TOTAL AUDIENCE IN AUSTRALIA
“A TRIAL FOR ME” EDM
2,524
GP’S REACHED
SURVEY RESULTS:
67%
“Clinical trials improve diagnosis and treatment of cancers, can improve patient’s quality of life”
66%
“Clinical trials research helps us to understand cancer better and improve diagnosis and treatment”
WERE PREVIOUSLY AWARE
TOOK AWAY ALL THE KEY
OF CLINICAL TRIALS
MESSAGES FROM THE AD
56%
95%
“Speak to your doctor about appropriate clinical trials for you”
COULD RECALL ANZUP AS A RESULT OF THE AD
SAID THAT THE AD
AND FELT INFORMED
CHANGED THE WAY
ABOUT HOW TO
FELT THE AD GAVE THEM
THEY THOUGHT ABOUT
FIND OUT MORE
ENOUGH INFORMATION
CLINICAL TRIALS
INFORMATION
Given the success of the campaign, ANZUP and BCT have decided to run the video again throughout December 2018 and January 2019. Keep a look out for it at GP offices or on social media. Your feedback is always welcome. 18 | ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018
63%
IN MEMORIUM Vale Alastair McKendrick On Tuesday 25th September 2018, some 14 years after his initial diagnosis with renal cancer, Alastair McKendrick, a treasured member of ANZUP’s Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP) member, died. Alastair was married to Alison for over 40 years, sharing a life of changes, adventure, and joy. Together they had two sons, and were delighted to see one of them married earlier this year. Alastair had a very successful professional career starting out in the UK and becoming Group Finance Director of SMEC (Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation) before his retirement. Alastair joined the CAP back in 2015 and was a strong advocate and contributor to ANZUP across all our research activities. Despite living through his own cancer challenges, he channelled his energy into ANZUP to promote the importance of clinical trials research. Alastair continued to fly the flag at the inaugural Melbourne Below the Belt Pedalthon in March 2018, attended the renal cancer committee teleconferences and several concept development workshops, and was active at our recent 10th anniversary ASM in July. When asked why he joined ANZUP’s CAP he responded, “I have been involved in ANZUP for several years now and am amazed at the strides that have been made. Whilst there have yet to be any trials that would be suitable for me, I believe that the work being done by ANZUP across the spectrum of cancers is inspiring and I aim to make whatever contribution I can to help the organisation achieve its goals”. We thank and acknowledge Alastair for his unwavering contribution to ANZUP. We are particularly grateful for his invaluable insights from a patient perspective, and his dry sense of humour that he never lost even at the most difficult times. His dedication and commitment will continue to inspire us and help us to focus on our mission. From all of us at ANZUP, our deepest sympathy to Alison and his family. His parting words to us now take on greater significance: ‘Tell them to work harder!’ And that we will do in his memory. We are privileged to have known Alastair and to have had him as part of our ANZUP community.
Vale Dr Arti Hurria It is with great sadness that we report the untimely, sudden passing of Dr Arti Hurria who died in a motor vehicle accident in California on November 7th 2018. Arti was a clinician and researcher without parallel who dedicated her life to the cause of geriatric oncology at a global level. With her truly special form of leadership, Arti was able to create collaborative efforts in which every participant felt valued and equal. Arti lived and worked by the proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.” At the time of her death Arti was the George Tsai Family Chair in Geriatric Oncology, director of the Center on Cancer and Aging, co-lead of the Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program, vice provost of clinical faculty, a professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, and a medical oncologist at City of Hope, California. In addition she was serving on the board of ASCO and continued to work as the co-founder of the Cancer and Aging Research Group (CARG). Arti’s leadership and research has led to an improvement in cancer care for older adults around the world with a notable achievement being the creation of a chemotherapy toxicity calculator that serves to predict an individual’s risk of treatment toxicity. The research around this tool has led to an improvement in the understanding of the factors that must be considered when caring for all older adults with cancer. Previously known as the CARG tool, the members of this group have decided to rename it in Dr Hurria’s honour. Arti was a colleague, a leader, a friend, a mentor and dedicated physician. The global oncology community has voiced in unison their despair at the loss of a true giant and grieves with her family and close colleagues. She will be profoundly missed. Dr Christopher Steer ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018 | 19
IN MEMORIUM Vale Daniel Christidis All at ANZUP were saddened by the death of Daniel Christidis, universally regarded as a rising star in the Urology community. Daniel was an emerging leader, a keen researcher in the urology field and a dedicated and compassionate clinician who was taken from us far too soon. Daniel’s loss to our community is keenly felt and we offer our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues at Austin Health and the broader medical community.
Vale Jonathan Cantwell ANZUP is saddened by the sudden passing of cyclist and friend Jonathan Cantwell. Jonathan was a highly successful Australian professional road bicycle racer, father of two and CEO of custom bikes manufacturer Swift Carbon Australia. In 2017 he announced that he had beaten testicular cancer, something he had been fighting privately. ANZUP was delighted to have Jonathan as the inaugural 2018 Below the Belt Pedalthon Melbourne ambassador. Jonathan said the event and cause were close to his heart ‘It’s just awesome to be part of the Pedalthon, with these amazing people riding at Sandown to defeat below the belt cancers’. Jonathan will be greatly missed by all of us at ANZUP. Thank you Jonathan for your amazing support of ANZUP and the Pedalthon. Rest in peace.
FREE to Join!
“Friends of ANZUP” is an initiative connecting people whose lives have been impacted by prostate, kidney, bladder or testicular cancers. Friends of ANZUP provides: • Information about the benefits of clinical trials and how to access them • Support from people who understand the challenges • Biannual community magazine, ‘A little below the belt’ • Invitation to Community Engagement Forums Please refer consumers to “Friends of ANZUP” and help us achieve our mission to improve the outcomes and treatment for those living with prostate, kidney, bladder and testicular cancers. Find out more at: http://www.anzup.org.au/friendsofanzup.aspx
20 | ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018
NEWS IN BRIEF ANZUP and PCFA relationship continues ANZUP and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA), the peak national body for prostate cancer have renewed its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), continuing a relationship that has seen significant outputs over the last 3 years. PCFA CEO, Jane Endacott said, “PCFA is delighted to be able to continue our relationship with ANZUP by renewing our MOU for a further 3 years. In addition to collaborating on the TheraP (Lu-PSMA) advanced prostate cancer trial, ANZUP have provided valuable input to the review of our research strategy. We will continue to hold our Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurses annual forum in conjunction with the ANZUP ASM which provides a unique opportunity to learn and collaborate with others in the urogenital clinical, scientific and research community. PCFA will continue to work with ANZUP on the opportunities of contributing to further prostate cancer related clinical trials.” In July 2017, ANZUP and PCFA launched the TheraP study, bringing together new partnerships with Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Endocyte, Movember, Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, It’s a Bloke Thing and CAN4CANCER. Under the partnership, PCFA will continue to be a Platinum Sponsor of the ANZUP Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) and PCFA’s annual Prostate Cancer Specialist Nursing Service conference to be held in conjunction with the ASM. ANZUP and PCFA are looking forward to continued collaborations such as this as they work together to fund and implement vital prostate cancer clinical trials.
ANZUP welcomes Prostate Cancer Foundation New Zealand as a research partner ANZUP is thrilled to welcome Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand (PCFNZ) as a research partner, having now established an MOU with the NZ-based foundation. PCFNZ is the national peak body for prostate cancer in New Zealand, and plays a significant role in promoting public awareness of prostate cancer. With over 3000 New Zealand men being diagnosed each year, clinical trial research is a high priority for PCFNZ to improve outcomes and treatments. PCFNZ will enter a 3-year partnership with ANZUP to support clinical trials for prostate cancer in New Zealand, which will include patient support for participation in existing ANZUP studies and other new initiatives.
“...Our objective is to improve access to clinical trials for men with both prostate and testicular cancers and we are looking forward to sharing in this venture...” – Graeme Woodside, CEO PCFNZ.
Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) – Prescriber 360 ANZUP have recently acquired the Clinical Trial Management System named Prescriber 360, which incorporates a number of capabilities that will allow more responsive oversight of our clinical trials. ANZUP’s Clinical Trials Project Manager, Simran Chawla and team have been working hard to build a comprehensive system that will provide ANZUP with upto-the-minute financial tracking and instant reporting on KPIs and milestones achieved. The CTMS includes an Investigator Management function that allows the trial sponsor to manage relationships with investigators, based on visibility into the status of study data and the related status with Coordinating Centres and/or Investigator sites.
ANZUP CEO MARGARET MCJANNETT WITH PCFNZ CEO GRAEME WOODSIDE AND NICHOLAS BUCHAN FROM UROLOGY ASSOCIATES (NZ)
For more information on CTMS, please contact simran.chawla@anzup.org.au. ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018 | 21
NEWS IN BRIEF The Advanced Prostate Best of GU Oncology Symposium Cancer Consensus 2018 – Brisbane Conference (APCCC) Food for thought was on the menu at the Best of GU Evening Symposium, held in Brisbane on the 14th November. Brisbane’s GU oncology 29 – 31 August 2019 community dined out on the latest in uro-oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, nuclear medicine and exercise physiology from experts Basel, Switzerland in the field.
Topics for APCCC 2019 include: • Locally advanced prostate cancer • B iochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after local therapy • M anagement of primary tumour in the metastatic situation • S ystemic treatment castration-sensitive/ naive prostate cancer • M anagement of M0 castration-resistant prostate cancer • M anagement of M1 castration-resistant prostate cancer
Symposium Chair Henry Woo hosted a line-up as engaging as it was diverse, covering the latest in GU treatment, research results through to patient physiology and psychology. The evening commenced with analysis of the latest research in kidney cancer with Craig Gedye before moving to the benefits of resistance training for men with prostate cancer with Tim Hartwig. Michael Hofman took the symposium through a visual exploration of theranostics and results seen in the TheraP trial before Venu Chalasani took us on a virtual journey of treatment and clinical trials through the patient’s eyes. Thank you to the presenters, all who attended the Best of GU symposium in person, or virtually via the webinar, and to sponsors Astellas and AstraZeneca.
• Bone and bone metastases • Molecular characterisation: tissue and blood • H eterogeneity of men with prostate cancer (ethnicity, elderly, organ dysfunction) • S ide effects of hormonal treatments and their management APCCC is the conference to attend to hear the latest in current standards of advanced prostate cancer management, global discussion on questions relevant to daily clinical practice, consensus voting and interaction with experts.
Late Breaking News Congratulations to Kath Schubach, winner of 2018 Janssen ANZUP Nursing /Allied Health Scholarship Award for her proposal to develop and implement an online sexual health education resource for nurses caring for men post-diagnosis. Congratulations Kath, we look forward to an update in the new year.
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Thank you to our 2018 Corporate Partners and Supporters We are very grateful for the infrastructure support we receive from Cancer Australia; however the funds are not sufficient to support ANZUP’s increasing research activities. In 2017/18 many of our events, grants and activities required significant help. Fortunately our Corporate Supporter program has continued to grow. For an extraordinary year of partnerships we thank Active Display Group, AFI Branding and The Saturday Paper as well as our fantastic corporate partners:
UPCOMING EVENTS IN 2019 FEBRUARY
MARCH
MARCH
MARCH
14-16
12-15
17
20-23
ASCO GU SYMPOSIUM
TROG ASM MELBOURNE
MELBOURNE PEDALTHON
ANZGOG ASM
MOSCONE WEST BUILDING, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
APRIL
APRIL
SYDNEY
MAY/JUNE
JUNE
13-16
26-30
31-4
13
USANZ ASM
ESTRO
BRISBANE
MILAN, ITALY
ASCO ANNUAL MEETING
ANZCHOG ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING
CHICAGO
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND
JUNE
JUNE
JULY
JULY
20-22
21-23
21-23
24-26
CANCER NURSES SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA 21ST ANNUAL CONGRESS
MASCC/ISOO SUPPORTIVE CARE IN CANCER
ANZUP ASM
ANZBCTG ASM
MELBOURNE
SAN FRANCISCO
AUGUST
HILTON, BRISBANE
AUGUST
AUGUST
AUGUST
14-16
21-23
22-25
29-31
MOGA ASM
AGITG
AUSTRALIAN PROSTATE CANCER CONFERENCE
APCCC 2019
ADELAIDE
ST GALLEN, SWITZERLAND
MELBOURNE
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
10
24-26
17-20
12-14
SYDNEY PEDALTHON
NZ SECTION MEETING (USANZ)
RANZCR ASM
COSA ASM
AUCKLAND
ADELAIDE
ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018 | 23
SAVE THE DATE!
ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING 21-23 JULY 2019 • HILTON, BRISBANE
Making Connections Like cycling? Don’t like cancer? Join us in the race to defeat prostate, testicular, kidney and bladder cancers. www.belowthebelt.org.au Me Pe lbou da r lth ne on
Join us in Melbourne Sunday 17 March 2019 Sandown Racecourse, Springvale REGISTRATIONS OPEN! #BTBPEDAL19 #MELBPEDAL19
Every cent we raise through the Pedalthon goes directly towards clinical trial research for testicular, prostate, kidney and bladder cancer.
ey dn hon y S lt da e P
Ride with us in Sydney Tuesday 10 September 2019 Sydney Motor Sport Park, Eastern Creek SAVE THE DATE! #BTBPEDAL19 #SYDPEDAL19
